Curtain Falls on the Koizumi Political Theater
HARA Yasushi / a former professor in the Sociology Department at Toyo University
September 27, 2006
The curtain falls on the Koizumi Theater. Playing to the gallery with slogans like 'Without reform, there is no economic recovery,' Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi brought the house down when he appeared on the political stage. As his theatrical politics draws to a close, however, the script has become increasingly incoherent, and both government and opposition actors on stage are just ad-libbing to get through the scene. The audience, or the people, manipulated by Mr. Koizumi's popularity, is now leaving the theater with a bewildered look. ‘What was all that hoopla about reform?'
It is not easy to assess the merits and demerits of the Koizumi administration. For instance, Mr. Koizumi, who is also the President of the Liberal Democratic Party, or the LDP, exploded a bombshell by saying, 'I am going to demolish the LDP.' His was certainly a high-handed approach, with the Prime Minister's Official Residence taking the lead in everything. But has the LDP really been demolished? Factional dynamics still played a part in deciding his successor. So it will take some time to ascertain whether he has really delivered on his promise.
Leaving aside specific strategies and political ideologies, however, it is important to closely examine the mark left by Mr. Koizumi's ideological approach of reducing everything to 'one phrase.'
Starting with his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, Mr. Koizumi's diplomacy caused trouble both at home and abroad. His diplomacy, carried out without consulting professional diplomats, was based on an amazingly simplistic formula. Under the banner of strengthening the Japan-US alliance, Mr. Koizumi gave unconditional support to the Bush administration's Iraq policy and decided to send Japanese Self-Defense Forces to Iraq. At the same time, he agreed to completely finance the cost of moving part of the Okinawa-based U.S. military to Guam. He was also eager to lift the ban on American beef even when Japanese consumers had misgivings about its safety. When in the company of his friend President Bush, he was in such high spirits that he impersonated Elvis Presley and ended up being ridiculed by the American media. Mr. Koizumi's diplomacy vis-a-vis the United States gives us a glimpse of his depth psychology--he grew up in post-war Yokosuka, a town steeped in American influence as a US Naval Base. In fact, however, his diplomacy was nothing more than an extension of post-war Japanese diplomacy, which had been depending on the U.S. out of mere habit.
Mr. Koizumi neglected to search for a new international order for the post-Cold War world, in harmony with the EU countries. He shelved all troublesome issues such as the Northern Territories, Takeshima, and the Senkaku Islands. With his Yasukuni visits, he continued to rub his neighbors up the wrong way. Describing his Yasukuni visits as 'a matter of the heart,' he paid no heed to opposition. The superficiality of his diplomacy became apparent when he merely sent his aide to the funeral of Pope John Paul II, an occasion attended by the world leaders regardless of religion or denomination. Japan's absence was a glaring revelation that Japan does not have a heart that shares feelings with the rest of the world.
Mr. Koizumi sent in 'assassin' candidates to defeat those in his own party who opposed his policies. This principle of winning at all cost and abandoning the weak brought a sea change to Japanese society. Japan, which had become an economic power thanks to the effort of its people, was a country where children of average families can go to nurseries and kindergartens, where everyone takes it for granted that children take piano lessons or after-school lessons to supplement schoolwork if they want to. Japan had become an egalitarian society that we can be proud of to the rest of the world.
But Mr. Koizumi's half-hearted reform without thinking of the consequences only resulted in destruction. People tried to find loopholes in the system, bringing about construction standard frauds, insider trading, and other get-rich-quick schemes. Money worship became rampant. As a result, a huge gap became apparent between those who jumped on the Koizumi bandwagon and those who missed it, the winners and the losers. Our proudly egalitarian society was no more. While putting off the reduction in the number of Diet seats and the number of government employees, Mr. Koizumi went ahead and raised medical expenses, reduced pension allowances, and abolished deductions for aged persons abandoning the weak.
At the entrance to the theater after the curtain went down on the Koizumi Political Theater, the next leading actor, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, is trying to call in people by barking, 'Please give us your continued patronage. But even those who stop by to listen look apathetic, and there is no guarantee that the Abe Theater will draw a full house.
The writer is a former professor in the Sociology Department at Toyo University. He is also a former writer for the Asahi Shimbun.
It is not easy to assess the merits and demerits of the Koizumi administration. For instance, Mr. Koizumi, who is also the President of the Liberal Democratic Party, or the LDP, exploded a bombshell by saying, 'I am going to demolish the LDP.' His was certainly a high-handed approach, with the Prime Minister's Official Residence taking the lead in everything. But has the LDP really been demolished? Factional dynamics still played a part in deciding his successor. So it will take some time to ascertain whether he has really delivered on his promise.
Leaving aside specific strategies and political ideologies, however, it is important to closely examine the mark left by Mr. Koizumi's ideological approach of reducing everything to 'one phrase.'
Starting with his visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, Mr. Koizumi's diplomacy caused trouble both at home and abroad. His diplomacy, carried out without consulting professional diplomats, was based on an amazingly simplistic formula. Under the banner of strengthening the Japan-US alliance, Mr. Koizumi gave unconditional support to the Bush administration's Iraq policy and decided to send Japanese Self-Defense Forces to Iraq. At the same time, he agreed to completely finance the cost of moving part of the Okinawa-based U.S. military to Guam. He was also eager to lift the ban on American beef even when Japanese consumers had misgivings about its safety. When in the company of his friend President Bush, he was in such high spirits that he impersonated Elvis Presley and ended up being ridiculed by the American media. Mr. Koizumi's diplomacy vis-a-vis the United States gives us a glimpse of his depth psychology--he grew up in post-war Yokosuka, a town steeped in American influence as a US Naval Base. In fact, however, his diplomacy was nothing more than an extension of post-war Japanese diplomacy, which had been depending on the U.S. out of mere habit.
Mr. Koizumi neglected to search for a new international order for the post-Cold War world, in harmony with the EU countries. He shelved all troublesome issues such as the Northern Territories, Takeshima, and the Senkaku Islands. With his Yasukuni visits, he continued to rub his neighbors up the wrong way. Describing his Yasukuni visits as 'a matter of the heart,' he paid no heed to opposition. The superficiality of his diplomacy became apparent when he merely sent his aide to the funeral of Pope John Paul II, an occasion attended by the world leaders regardless of religion or denomination. Japan's absence was a glaring revelation that Japan does not have a heart that shares feelings with the rest of the world.
Mr. Koizumi sent in 'assassin' candidates to defeat those in his own party who opposed his policies. This principle of winning at all cost and abandoning the weak brought a sea change to Japanese society. Japan, which had become an economic power thanks to the effort of its people, was a country where children of average families can go to nurseries and kindergartens, where everyone takes it for granted that children take piano lessons or after-school lessons to supplement schoolwork if they want to. Japan had become an egalitarian society that we can be proud of to the rest of the world.
But Mr. Koizumi's half-hearted reform without thinking of the consequences only resulted in destruction. People tried to find loopholes in the system, bringing about construction standard frauds, insider trading, and other get-rich-quick schemes. Money worship became rampant. As a result, a huge gap became apparent between those who jumped on the Koizumi bandwagon and those who missed it, the winners and the losers. Our proudly egalitarian society was no more. While putting off the reduction in the number of Diet seats and the number of government employees, Mr. Koizumi went ahead and raised medical expenses, reduced pension allowances, and abolished deductions for aged persons abandoning the weak.
At the entrance to the theater after the curtain went down on the Koizumi Political Theater, the next leading actor, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, is trying to call in people by barking, 'Please give us your continued patronage. But even those who stop by to listen look apathetic, and there is no guarantee that the Abe Theater will draw a full house.
The writer is a former professor in the Sociology Department at Toyo University. He is also a former writer for the Asahi Shimbun.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
小泉政治劇場の幕切れ
原 康 / 元東洋大学社会学部教授
2006年 9月 27日
小泉劇場が閉幕する。「改革無くして景気回復なし」と大向こうをうならせ、やんやの喝采を浴びて登場した小泉首相の劇場型政治も終幕に近づくにつれ、脚本も支離滅裂になり、舞台に立つ与野党の役者たちも、勝手な思いつきの台詞でその場を繕うだけ。小泉人気に一緒に踊らされた観客（国民）も「はて、改革とは何だったのか」 と狐につまされたような表情で、劇場を出る。
小泉政権の功罪は単純には測れない。例えば、自民党総裁でもある小泉首相が「自民党をぶっ壊してやる」と物騒な発言で首相官邸主導型の強引な政治をしてきたが、果たして自民党が壊れたのかどうか。後継首班選びも派閥力学が決めそうだし、見極めるには時間がかかる。
しかし、具体的な戦略や政策理念を抜きにして、首相得意の「ワン・フレーズ」で切り捨てるイデオロギー的アプローチが残した足跡は、丁寧な検証をしておくことが必要だ。
まず、靖国神社参拝問題など、国の内外を騒がせた小泉外交は、外交のプロを頭越しにした、驚くべきほど単純な方程式に立っていた。日米同盟の強化を謳った小泉首相は無条件に米ブッシュ政権の対イラク政策を支持し、自衛隊のイラク派兵に踏み切る一方、駐沖縄米軍の一部グアム移転費を丸抱えし、日本の消費者が疑念を捨てきれない米産牛肉の輸入解禁を急いだ。盟友ブッシュ大統領の前でエルビス・プレスリーの物まねを披露するなど米メディアも揶揄するほどはしゃいで見せた。対米小泉外交は戦後米海軍基地として米国色溢れる横須賀に育った首相の深層心理がかいま見られるが、その実、米国だけを頼りにしていれば安心、という戦後の日本外交の惰性に過ぎなかったのである。
ＥＵ諸国と協調する冷戦後の新国際秩序の模索を怠り、北方領土、竹島、尖閣諸島など面倒な問題はすべて棚上げして、靖国参拝など、近隣諸国の神経を逆なでした。靖国参拝は「心の問題」と突っぱねた小泉外交の浅薄さは、宗教、宗派を超えて世界の首脳たちが参列した法王ヨハネ・パウロ二世の葬儀に首相補佐官しか送らなかった事実に表れている。日本は世界の人たちと共有する心のないことが世界中の目にはっきり映ったからである。
自分の反対勢力には〝刺客〟まで送り込む小泉首相の切り捨て主義は日本社会のあり方を大きく変えた。国民の努力で経済大国になった日本は、普通の家庭の子どもたちが保育園や幼稚園に通え、学習塾やピアノなどのお稽古ごともごく当たり前にできる、世界にも誇れる平等社会を造り上げてきた。
しかし、コンセクエンスを考えず、破壊だけを実績とした中途半端な小泉改革は、建築基準のごまかしやインサイダー取引など、その抜け穴をねらい一攫千金を謀る拝金主義をはびこらせた。その結果、小泉時流に乗った者、乗り遅れた者、いわゆる「勝ち組」「負け組」と誇るべき平等社会の中で格差が際立ってきた。国会議員定数や公務員削減などは後回しにしたままの医療費の値上げ、年金支給額の引き下げ、高齢者控除の廃止なども弱者切り捨てである。
小泉劇場政治がはねた芝居小屋の入り口では次の立役者、安倍官房長官が「またのご贔屓を」と呼び込みに懸命だが、立ち止まる野次馬もしらけ顔が多く、安倍劇場が満席になるかどうか、分からない。
（筆者は元東洋大学社会学部教授。元朝日新聞記者。）
小泉政権の功罪は単純には測れない。例えば、自民党総裁でもある小泉首相が「自民党をぶっ壊してやる」と物騒な発言で首相官邸主導型の強引な政治をしてきたが、果たして自民党が壊れたのかどうか。後継首班選びも派閥力学が決めそうだし、見極めるには時間がかかる。
しかし、具体的な戦略や政策理念を抜きにして、首相得意の「ワン・フレーズ」で切り捨てるイデオロギー的アプローチが残した足跡は、丁寧な検証をしておくことが必要だ。
まず、靖国神社参拝問題など、国の内外を騒がせた小泉外交は、外交のプロを頭越しにした、驚くべきほど単純な方程式に立っていた。日米同盟の強化を謳った小泉首相は無条件に米ブッシュ政権の対イラク政策を支持し、自衛隊のイラク派兵に踏み切る一方、駐沖縄米軍の一部グアム移転費を丸抱えし、日本の消費者が疑念を捨てきれない米産牛肉の輸入解禁を急いだ。盟友ブッシュ大統領の前でエルビス・プレスリーの物まねを披露するなど米メディアも揶揄するほどはしゃいで見せた。対米小泉外交は戦後米海軍基地として米国色溢れる横須賀に育った首相の深層心理がかいま見られるが、その実、米国だけを頼りにしていれば安心、という戦後の日本外交の惰性に過ぎなかったのである。
ＥＵ諸国と協調する冷戦後の新国際秩序の模索を怠り、北方領土、竹島、尖閣諸島など面倒な問題はすべて棚上げして、靖国参拝など、近隣諸国の神経を逆なでした。靖国参拝は「心の問題」と突っぱねた小泉外交の浅薄さは、宗教、宗派を超えて世界の首脳たちが参列した法王ヨハネ・パウロ二世の葬儀に首相補佐官しか送らなかった事実に表れている。日本は世界の人たちと共有する心のないことが世界中の目にはっきり映ったからである。
自分の反対勢力には〝刺客〟まで送り込む小泉首相の切り捨て主義は日本社会のあり方を大きく変えた。国民の努力で経済大国になった日本は、普通の家庭の子どもたちが保育園や幼稚園に通え、学習塾やピアノなどのお稽古ごともごく当たり前にできる、世界にも誇れる平等社会を造り上げてきた。
しかし、コンセクエンスを考えず、破壊だけを実績とした中途半端な小泉改革は、建築基準のごまかしやインサイダー取引など、その抜け穴をねらい一攫千金を謀る拝金主義をはびこらせた。その結果、小泉時流に乗った者、乗り遅れた者、いわゆる「勝ち組」「負け組」と誇るべき平等社会の中で格差が際立ってきた。国会議員定数や公務員削減などは後回しにしたままの医療費の値上げ、年金支給額の引き下げ、高齢者控除の廃止なども弱者切り捨てである。
小泉劇場政治がはねた芝居小屋の入り口では次の立役者、安倍官房長官が「またのご贔屓を」と呼び込みに懸命だが、立ち止まる野次馬もしらけ顔が多く、安倍劇場が満席になるかどうか、分からない。
（筆者は元東洋大学社会学部教授。元朝日新聞記者。）
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟